This invention relates generally to sportfishing, and more particularly to improvements in release clips of the kind used to support fishing lines from an outrigger pole.
In ocean sportfishing, it is common for a single boat to put multiple lines out through the use of outrigger poles. Outrigger poles are long poles that extend from various positions on the boat and spread the fishing lines apart from one another. The poles are typically made of aluminum and each pole has a 1/4 inch nylon outrigger line fed over pulleys located at the inner and outer ends of the pole. The ends of the outrigger line are both connected to a device known as an "outrigger release clip" so that the clip can be moved from a location near the outer end of the pole to an accessible location above or adjacent to the deck of the fishing boat. The arrangement of outrigger poles and release clips helps properly position the fishing lines, keeps them from becoming twisted or fouled, and simplifies the task of setting out the lines. When a fish strikes the bait at the end of a fishing line, ideally the clip releases the line so that it becomes slack for a time. This allows the bait to remain stationary in the water so that the fish, after making the initial strike, is more likely to come back to swallow the bait.
An ideal release clip would allow the attachment of the fishing line with only one hand, so the other hand can be used to steady the fisherman on the boat; would not twist in such a way as to foul up the fishing line; would be easily and repeatably adjustable to a desired tension to facilitate the capture of fish striking with different forces; would transfer the strike force to the release clip in such a way that the force applied to the release mechanism accurately corresponds to the striking force; and could be unfastened readily by a single jerk on the outrigger line.
One form of release clip is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,905,148 to Phillip L. Naone et al. This release clip comprises a clothespin-shaped device with a pair of legs that capture a rotatable and releasable sheave. The fishing line is threaded around the sheave and the device is run up the outrigger pole on a outrigger line. When a fish strikes, the sudden pulling force causes the sheave to pop out from between the legs of the clip, releasing the line so that it can be controlled by directly by the fisherman through his fishing rod. This device has the disadvantage that, when a strike of sufficient force occurs, the sheave pops out and is lost permanently. The device must then be hauled in for replacement of the sheave.
Another form of release clip is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,930,330 to Albert D. Black. This clip has a pivoted release arm held between a pair of arms to which tension is applied by an adjusting nut. The adjusting nut is twisted to set the device to a desired tension.
Still another form of outrigger release clip is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,428,142, 4,574,516 and 5,574,518 to W. D. Shedd et al. The clip has a U-shaped arm pivoted to a body to define a cavity between the arm and body. A V-shaped roller is journaled in the arm so that a fishing line extending through the clip between the arm and body rides friction-free over the roller. A latch member spanning the arm and body has a cam element engaging the free end of the pivoted arm and resiliently presses against the pivoted arm to provide an adjustable force that resists pivotal release of the arm and of the tensioned fishing line entrained over its roller. With this device, it can become very awkward to attach the clip to the outrigger line and to attach the fishing line into the clip. In this device, there is no way to know how much tension is applied by the adjusting nut to the pair of arms.
Finally, still another form of outrigger clip is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,611,423 to Rupp. This device is attached to the free ends of an outrigger line and holds the fishing line on a V-shaped roller. The roller is positioned on a rotatable shaft that is pivotable between a line-retaining or line-releasing position. Detent members frictionally engage a release lug and may be twisted to increase or decrease line-release pressure.
In each of the patented devices described above, there is no way to release the fishing line manually without whipping a rod tip violently or hauling in the clip on the outrigger line, and it is difficult to set the device accurately to a desired tension.